Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.71.

SF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SF. FMR LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,923,000 after buying an additional 860,465 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $162,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,290,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,936,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $114.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.60. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, research analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.49%.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.